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Hidden Gems of Italy: 10 Underrated Towns You Need to Visit

Italy’s hidden gems are the places that don’t make the front page of every travel magazine — but they should. While tourists crowd Rome, Florence and Venice, millions of Italians live their whole lives in small towns of staggering beauty that most visitors never see. This guide reveals ten of the best hidden gems of Italy: underrated towns packed with history, food, and character, where you can travel without the queues and the crowds.

Why Italy’s Hidden Gems Are Better Than the Big Cities

Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other country on earth. A big chunk of them are not in the cities you already know. The country is home to over 5,000 borghi — ancient medieval villages and small towns — many of which are almost entirely off the tourist trail. When you visit these places, you eat in restaurants where the chef grew up cooking the same recipes her grandmother taught her. You sleep in guesthouses run by families who have lived in that town for generations. You wander streets that look exactly as they did three hundred years ago.

Italy’s big cities are brilliant, but crowds, high prices, and exhaustion come with the territory. The hidden gems offer something the cities cannot: genuine Italian life, at a pace you can actually enjoy.

The Best Hidden Gems of Italy

1. Tropea, Calabria

Tropea sits on a clifftop above the Tyrrhenian Sea in Calabria, southern Italy’s toe. It looks like a painting: pastel-coloured buildings stacked on a sandstone promontory, with a medieval cathedral perched at the edge of the rock and clear blue water far below. The beaches here are genuinely world-class — wide, white, and rarely overcrowded even in summer. Tropea is also famous for its red onions, which are sweet enough to eat raw and exported across Italy. The local food scene is excellent: fresh swordfish, nduja (the fiery spreadable salami), and pasta made that morning. Most visitors to Calabria skip straight to Sicily. That is their loss.

2. Matera, Basilicata

Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. People have lived in its famous sassi — cave dwellings carved into the ravines of the Murgia plateau — for over 9,000 years. The Italian government once called the city a national embarrassment and moved its residents out in the 1950s. UNESCO gave it World Heritage status, and in 2019 it served as European Capital of Culture. Walking through Matera feels genuinely extraordinary: churches cut into rock, staircases winding down into ancient carved streets, views across a gorge that time forgot. Stay the night and you’ll have the streets to yourself after the day-trippers leave.

3. Spello, Umbria

Spello is a small hill town in Umbria, on the slopes of Monte Subasio between Assisi and Foligno. Every June, residents create elaborate carpet-like mosaics from flower petals across the cobbled streets for the infiorata festival. Outside festival season, Spello is a quiet, beautiful place with Roman walls, medieval churches, and excellent olive oil. Far fewer tourists visit Spello than Assisi next door, which makes it ideal if you want the Umbrian experience without the crowds. The views across the Vale of Spoleto are exceptional at sunset.

4. Civita di Bagnoregio, Lazio

Civita di Bagnoregio is often called “the dying city” — la città che muore — because it sits on a crumbling plateau of volcanic tuff that erosion slowly eats away. A single long pedestrian footbridge connects it to the modern town below. Just a handful of permanent residents live inside Civita’s ancient gates, but the medieval streets, Etruscan caves, and panoramic views across the gorge make it one of the most dramatic places in all of Italy. Go early morning or late afternoon to dodge the coach tours, and you’ll feel as though you’ve stepped into another world entirely.

5. Ostuni, Puglia

Ostuni is the “White City” of Puglia — a hilltop town of brilliant white-washed buildings that gleam in the southern Italian sun. Its old town is a maze of steep lanes, arched passageways, and terracotta pots overflowing with geraniums. The cathedral has a stunning late-Gothic façade. Puglia’s food is among the best in Italy: burrata made that morning, orecchiette pasta with cime di rapa, grilled fish straight from the Adriatic. Ostuni is becoming better known, but it’s still far quieter than the Amalfi Coast and far cheaper. Trulli — the conical stone houses unique to this part of the world — scatter across the surrounding Valle d’Itria in every direction.

6. Barga, Tuscany

Most people think of Tuscany as Florence, Siena, and the rolling Chianti hills. Barga sits in the Garfagnana valley north of Lucca, deep in the mountains, and it feels like a different country entirely. This small medieval walled town has a beautiful Romanesque cathedral, a vibrant jazz festival each July, and a food scene built on chestnut flour, Garfagnana beans, and hearty ribollita. Gorges, chestnut forests, and villages that tourists rarely visit surround the town on every side. Most visitors to Tuscany never make it here. That is their loss.

7. Erice, Sicily

Erice sits on top of a mountain in western Sicily, almost permanently wrapped in cloud. The town is entirely medieval: narrow stone lanes, a Norman castle, ancient churches. It feels remote and slightly mystical, which suits its history — the Elymians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and Arabs each used this hilltop as a place of worship. The famous pastry shop run by Maria Grammatico for decades draws visitors from across Sicily alone. Below Erice, a panorama stretches across the salt flats of Trapani to the Egadi Islands. On clear days you can see Tunisia. Taking the cable car up from Trapani only adds to the drama.

8. Bevagna, Umbria

Bevagna sits in the flat Clitunno valley between Perugia and Spoleto, and its character is almost entirely Roman and medieval. Two twelfth-century Romanesque churches flank the central piazza, one of the finest in Umbria. Peer through a glass floor at a nearby building and you’ll see a genuine Roman mosaic. Bevagna is tiny — fewer than 5,000 people — and deeply unpretentious. Every June the town hosts the Mercato delle Gaite, a medieval market that takes over every street. Umbrian truffles and lentils from nearby Castelluccio alone are reason enough to visit.

9. Alberobello, Puglia

Alberobello is famous for its trulli — the whitewashed conical stone houses unique to this corner of Puglia. UNESCO gave the town centre World Heritage status, and the sight of thousands of these strange little buildings clustered together on two hillsides is genuinely unlike anything else in Europe. The place is not entirely unknown, but most visitors stay for a few hours and leave. Spend the night in a trullo and you’ll have the evening and morning to yourself — wandering streets lit by lanterns, with the tourist coaches long gone. The surrounding countryside offers some of the best cycling in southern Italy.

10. Bobbio, Emilia-Romagna

Bobbio sits in the Trebbia valley in the Apennines, south of Piacenza, and barely registers on most tourist maps — despite being beautiful, historically rich, and excellent for food. The ancient humpback Ponte Gobbo has crossed the Trebbia river since at least medieval times, and local legend credits the devil with building it. The town’s seventh-century Abbazia di San Colombano ranked among the great centres of learning in early medieval Europe. The valley around Bobbio is quiet and green, with cold clear water that’s perfect for swimming in summer.

Tips for Visiting Italy’s Hidden Gems

When to go

May, June, and September are the ideal months for visiting Italy’s hidden gems. The weather is warm but not fierce, prices are lower than July and August, and the smaller towns are at their most pleasant. Many of Italy’s small towns hold their main festivals in June and July — worth planning around. Avoid August if you can: it’s hot, many locals close their businesses for Ferragosto, and the usually-quiet places get their one real spike of visitors.

Getting around

A hire car makes reaching most of Italy’s hidden gems straightforward. Public transport in Italy runs well between cities but gets patchy in rural areas. Follow the ZTL (Zona Traffico Limitato) signs carefully in historic centres — fines for driving in restricted zones can arrive months later to your home address. Fill up at petrol stations before lunchtime in rural areas, as many close between noon and 3pm.

Where to stay

Small family-run agriturismi (farm stays) and B&Bs give you the best experience in rural Italy. They cost less than hotels, the breakfasts are extraordinary, and the owners know where to eat, what to see, and what to skip. Book ahead for June, July and September — capacity in these small towns fills up fast. Many borghi now offer small hotels in restored medieval buildings, which makes for a memorable stay.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best hidden gems of Italy for first-time visitors?

For first-time visitors, Matera and Ostuni in the south are the most rewarding hidden gems of Italy — both are accessible, have good accommodation, and offer experiences you simply cannot get in the major cities. Civita di Bagnoregio makes an excellent day trip from Rome for those who want something extraordinary without travelling far.

Are Italy’s hidden gem towns safe to visit?

Italy’s small towns and villages are generally very safe. Petty theft rarely happens outside the major tourist cities. In small borghi, pickpocketing is almost unheard of, unlike in Rome or Naples. Watch the driving rules (especially ZTL zones) and check closing times for shops and restaurants at lunchtime — those are the main things to keep in mind.

How do I get to remote Italian villages without a car?

Some hidden gems have bus or train connections from major cities — trains run from Bari to Matera, and the FSE narrow-gauge railway links Bari to Alberobello. For most small towns, you’ll need a car or a private transfer. Many travellers hire a car from a major city for two or three days to explore the countryside, then return to their city base for the rest of the trip.

What food should I try in Italy’s hidden gem towns?

Each region of Italy has its own food traditions, and hidden gem towns are where you find the real thing. In Puglia, try fresh burrata, orecchiette, and grilled fish. In Calabria, look for nduja, swordfish, and the famous Tropea onions. In Umbria, truffles, lentils from Castelluccio, and wild boar ragu are local staples. In Sicily, street food varies by town — arancini, panelle, and fresh cannoli are all worth seeking out.

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Looking for more of Italy off the beaten track? Try our guides to Padua — the underrated city every Italy lover should visit, the best hidden beaches in Sicily, and Bolzano and the best of South Tyrol’s alpine capital.

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